Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jancsika 3240 days ago
> Not knowing the basics of how to implement a binary tree, a singly or doubly linked list is a massive red flag in terms of the competence of a candidate in my humble opinion.

I agree.

On the flip side-- upon successfully implementing a linked list, a clever candidate might let it slip that he/she designed the interface to be performant with a particular use case in mind, and that they weren't sure if the interview had the same expectation for that use case. If the interviewer consequently signaled agreement with the premise that linked lists have performance benefits in certain cases, it's a good indicator that the people in charge probably aren't thinking critically about the software they are producing.